It is translated to deceive or
to be deceived, to err, to go astray. Whenever we read of going
astray, this is the same word. To be seduced, to wander, to
be out of the way. Actually, the Greek word is where
we get the word planet from. What is a planet called in the
scriptures? A wandering star. Something that moves. You can't
count on it. It's moving around. The mariners
couldn't base where they're headed on a wandering star. It would
take them anywhere. To err. And this is something that every
one of us could do. It means to go astray. To lead away from the truth or
to be led away from the truth. To be led away into error and
sin. Now there's a reason that you
and I can so easily err. You know what that reason is?
It's because of a sinful nature. That's easy to answer. We all
have a sinful nature, a nature that is completely evil. Now he's talking to believers.
They also have a holy nature. They have a new nature given
to them in the new birth. But that old nature has not changed
a bit. It still has the same appetites.
It still has the same corruption. It still has the same love of
self. And that is why it would be so
easy for me or you to go astray and err from the truth. Actually,
think about what Isaiah said. All we, like sheep, have gone
astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. I mean, there's something peculiar
about what every one of us have done. We've turned everyone to
his own way. Look at the way David in Psalm
119. I think this is such an interesting
ending to this great song. And this is David, the man after
God's own heart speaking. the sweet psalmist of Israel,
and he ends this 119th Psalm, the longest chapter in the Bible,
with these words. This is David. Verse 176, I have
gone astray like a lost sheep. Now, when he says this, he knows
I can't find my way back. I am totally helpless. I've gone
astray like a lost sheep. It's all my fault. I've messed
up. And here's the only plea I can
make. Seek thy servant. Come looking
for me. I can't even get back to you.
I can't look to you. Seek thy servant. For I do not
forget thy word. Now, I've been there. I am there. And so are you. This is always
a relevant prayer. Lord, I've gone astray like a
lost sheep, a stupid lost sheep. Seek me out. Find me. Bring me back into the fold.
I can't get back. Seek thy servant. I don't forget
your word. Look back to the book of James
and look in this first chapter. He uses this word again. James
chapter one. Verse 13, let no man say when
he's tempted, I'm tempted of God. God's tempting me. He's
trying to tempt me to sin. For God cannot be tempted with
evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted
when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived
it, bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it's finished,
bringeth forth death. Do not err, that's the word,
do not be, go astray. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of
his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should
be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Now look again
in verse 16. Don't go astray, my beloved brethren. He's speaking of two things here.
Number one, don't blame your sin on God. My sin is all my fault. Well, God in his sovereignty
let me sin. He could have kept me from it.
You know, even Pharaoh didn't say something like that. When
the scripture said, God hardens heart, you know what he said?
I've sinned, and I and my people are evil. Yes, God's in control
of everything. There's no doubt about it, but
my sin is all my fault. I can't blame my sin on the will
of God. Well, God willed it. He allowed
it to happen. Can't do it. Do not err, my beloved brethren.
And I can't give myself the credit
for my salvation in any way of His own will. Not my will. of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. Now don't err on either side.
This is a way that we would have a tendency to err, trying to
blame God for our sin, looking for some way to justify ourselves
so we're not responsible for our own sin, or trying to give
ourselves some of the credit and salvation with our will.
Do not err, my beloved brethren. And notice what he's speaking
of in our text. Turn back to James chapter five.
Brethren, if any of you do err, go astray from the truth. The truth of the gospel. Now that's what he's talking
about. He's not saying if you see your brother do something
contradictory, you need to go confront about their sin and
try to get them straightened out. Don't do that. Not unless
you don't have any beams in your own eye. Don't do that. You don't
have any business doing that. Lord will take care of him. That
doesn't mean you come to somebody and confront them about the sin
in their life. This is talking about the gospel.
If any of you err from the truth of the gospel, and I think this
is so important. If I err from the truth of the
gospel, sin is the reason behind it. My own personal sin. It's not because of some intellectual
inability to understand. It's my own personal sin that
would cause me to err from the truth of the gospel. Turn to
1 Timothy 6. Verse 10. For the love of money, First Timothy chapter six, for
the love of money, covetousness, the desire for what money can
provide you. The love of money is the root
of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have what? Erred from the faith. This covetous
desire is what caused them to err from the faith. It gave them
a reason to err from the faith and pierce themselves through
with many sorrows. Look in 2 Timothy 2, verse 17. And their word will eat as doth
a canker of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who concerning
the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection has passed
already and overthrow the faith of some. Now, wondering from
the truth is because of my sin. And understand this, when I wonder
from the truth, when I err from the truth, when I go astray,
I'm going astray from Christ himself. Christ is the truth. I love saying that. John chapter 14, verse 6, he
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Now listen to me.
Christ is the truth regarding who God is. Somebody says, I
want to know who God is. Look to Jesus Christ and you'll
find out. He is God. He's the truth. concerning who
I am. Do I want to see how deformed
and sinful I am? Look to Christ. Anything that's
not just like Him is evil. Jesus Christ is the truth regarding
salvation. I'm saved for His sake. And only
for His sake. He bore my sins, put them away.
He gives me His righteousness. And I'm saved by Him. He's the
truth. He's the truth regarding everything.
He's the truth concerning this Word. If any of you do err from
the truth. Now, if I err from the truth,
I'm erring away from Christ himself. I'm going astray from Christ
himself. Listen to this scripture. John
1 14 says, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the father, full of grace and full of truth. Now that's
who Jesus Christ is. He's full of grace. That's good
news. And he's full of truth. And you can't talk about truth
without talking about grace. And you can't talk about grace
without talking about the truth. His unmerited favor. John 1 17 says, The law was given
by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now the
law is true. You're going to object to anything the law says?
No, the law is true. But it's not the truth. Grace
is the truth. Grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. There's no worship. without the
truth. If I go astray from Christ, I've
gone astray from worship. Our Lord said in John chapter
4 verse 24, God is spirit and they that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. There's no sanctification without
the truth. Being set apart by God. If I'm
straying from the truth, listen to this scripture. We're bound
to thank God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. The
sanctification of the Spirit is the belief of the truth. If
you believe the truth, you're being sanctified by the Spirit.
But what if I wander away from the truth? James 1.18, I've already
read this, of his own will, begat he us through the word of truth.
Now, the word of truth, the gospel, and God's will is what begets
life. He takes his word, the word of truth, and by his will,
he gives life. The only way you or I will have
life is through the word of truth. In Titus, or 1 Timothy 2, verse
4, being saved is called coming to a knowledge of the truth.
God will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of
the truth. Faith is called in Titus 1.3, the faith of God's
elect, the acknowledging of the truth. The truth! Which is after
godliness. Repentance. If God will grant
them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Now do you see
how important the truth is? Christ is the truth. It's not
just a series of propositions. It's Christ Himself. It's worship. It's God doing something for
me. be to err from The truth. In Ephesians chapter 6, 14, when
Paul's giving us the armor we're supposed to put on, what's the
first piece of armor he gives us? Have your loins girt about
with truth. The truth of the gospel. So this
is what he's talking about. He's talking about erring from
the truth of the gospel. Now, like I've already said,
if you see your brother with something contradictory and inconsistent
in his life, You do not need to confront him about it unless
you have nothing that's contradictory and inconsistent in your own
life. Now until you can get to that place, keep your mouth shut. Keep your mouth shut. Anybody
got to that place yet? You all know you'll never get
to that place. So this is not what he's talking about. He's
not talking about you see something in your brother that is inconsistent.
Well, I can show you a lot of things are inconsistent and you
do. And you can show me a lot of things are inconsistent in
me. If that's what we're about, if that's what we want to do,
it's easy. It's easy. It's unloving, it's pharisaical,
it's harsh, but that's not what this is about when he's saying,
if any of you do err from the truth. If any of you do err,
he's talking about erring from the truth of the gospel, Jesus
Christ being all in salvation. Now, if any of you do err, turn
to 1 John 1. Verse 8, if we say that we have no sin,
that word deceive is the same Greek word err. We've gone astray. If we make a claim like that,
I have no sin, what have I done? I've gone astray like a lost
sheep. You know, when you make a statement,
or if I make a statement like that with regard to myself, how
hard hearted How untrue. I mean, if you've got the Spirit
of God, if you've got a new nature, all you see is sin. That's what
you see. And so when I'm speaking that
way, obviously I'm not speaking under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. What am I doing? He says in verse 8, if we say
we have no sin, we err, go astray, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. We've lost all credibility. Now, it's our fault we've been
deceived. There's some wicked motive in
coming up with a statement like that. It's our fault if we've
been seduced. We opened ourselves up to that.
But what a bad place to be. The truth is not even in us. Now, back to our text. Brethren, if any of you do err
from the truth, the gospel, and one converted. One turns you. Now you know as well as I do
that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only one that can turn somebody. I can't turn you and you can't
turn me and I can't turn myself. I know that. That's why we pray,
turn us again, O Lord, cause thy face to shine, and we'll
be saved. That's the prayer of our heart.
Turn me, and I'll be turned. I can't turn myself. I can't
turn you, and you can't turn me. But the Lord may use you
to turn me. He may use me to turn you. Back to the truth of the gospel. Brethren, if any of you Do err
from the truth, and one, convert him. Turn him back to the truth.
Now aren't you glad the Lord goes after his straying sheep?
Turn with me to Matthew chapter 18. This is the Lord's work. Verse 12, how think ye If a man have an hundred sheep,
and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety
and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which
is gone astray? And if so be that he find it,
verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep. Then if the
ninety and nine ones went on astray, even so it's not the
will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little
ones should perish. And if it's not His will that
one of these little ones should perish, none of them will, will
they? Turn to Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15. Verse 1, Then drew near unto
him, all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. Evil people. People who had nothing
to bring to the table, but their sin. And the Pharisees and scribes
murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and he eats with them. Aren't you thankful he does? And he spake this parable unto
them, that made this statement? What man of you, having a hundred
sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave? the 99 in the
wilderness, and go after that which is lost until he find it.
And when he hath found it, he's always going to, he layeth it
on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbors saying unto them, rejoice with
me for I found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you that
likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth
more than over the 99 just persons which need not which need no repentance. Now,
when I go astray, he may use you to find me, and I'll be thankful,
but he's the one who found me. He's the shepherd. The one who turns him is the
man he's used to do this. If one of you convert him, now
if I'm to be used in that capacity, and you're to be used in that
capacity, How should this be done? Brother. There's sin in your
life. I see it. And I'm fulfilling
my responsibility as your brother in Christ and exercising my gift
to be able to clearly see notes in your eyes. I've got a gift
for that. And I'm calling on you to repent
of that sin or suffer the consequences of church discipline. Think that's going to bring anybody
back? No. That's evil. That's foolishness. That's self-righteousness. That's not what this is about.
As a matter of fact, let me assure you, no one will convert anyone
if you have an attitude like that. And the person who has
that attitude is the one who needs to be converted. It's the
person who needs to be saved. That kind of attitude. Not, I'm
looking out for my brother, trying to bring him back. No, you're
not. Well, how am I to be? Well, first and foremost, I'm
to love my brother that's gone astray. Love is so powerful. I'm to love
my brother that's gone astray. Remember this, this is going
astray from the truth from Christ himself. And if you love Christ,
you love your brother, you want him to return because you love
him. Secondly, this cannot be contrary to turn to Matthew chapter
seven. Verse one. Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge,
you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet,
it shall be measured to you again. Now let me pause for just a moment.
That doesn't mean that if you judge your brother, God's gonna
judge you with the same harshness. Because if it does, nobody in
this room will be saved. Every one of us have been guilty
of a judgmental attitude and judging. It's ugly. It's horrible. It's wrong. But what we've all
been guilty of, but what it means is if you judge somebody, they're
going to judge you even more harshly. If you don't judge somebody,
they're going to like you. They're going to, they're a nice
guy. They feel that you're judging them. They're going to see every
fault, every flaw, and they're going to deal with you accordingly.
So that's what the Lord means there. But let's go and read.
Verse three, and why beholdest thou the mote, the speck that's
in thy brother's eye, but consider it's not the beam that is in
thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother,
let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and behold, a beam
is in thine own eye. Thou hypocrite. First, cast out the beam out
of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clear to cast out the
mote of thy brother's eye. But as long as you have beams
in your eyes, don't go after your brother's motes. So this returning, converting your brother
back to the truth. It has nothing to do with a judgmental
attitude that's expressed in Matthew chapter seven. And if
I have that, I don't have any business even trying anything.
It can't be contrary to that. And thirdly, remember Galatians
chapter three, verse one, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault. I'm going to ask you, can you
understand how easily you could be overtaken in a fault? And
that word fault is a sin. Just overcome with some sin. If a man be overtaken in a fault,
you which are spiritual, you have the Holy Spirit. You've
got a new nature. Restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness. considering yourself, lest you
also be tempted. You know, you ought to know this
about yourself. If you're tempted, you'll fall. You know what? If you're tempted,
you'll fall. If you're put in the same position
that brother is, you'll do the same thing, probably worse. That's
what he means when he says, consider yourself, lest you be tempted. There's a reason why the Lord
told us to pray, lead us not into temptation, because we know
what'll happen when we're tempted. Therefore, we don't even want
to be tempted. Lead us not into temptation. So this is to be
done in the spirit. He said, bear ye one another's
burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. So this has something
to do with fulfilling the law of Christ. Restore such a one
in the spirit of neatness. Considering yourself, lest you
also be tempted, knowing that you'll be worse. Bear ye one
another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Paul put it
this way in Philippians chapter 4 verse 5. Let your moderation
be known to all men. You know what that word means?
Moderation. Somebody says, well, it means
being moderate eating and drinking. It doesn't mean any such thing.
That's not what the word means. Now, it's good to be moderate
in eating and drinking, but this word means literally leniency. Let your leniency be known to
all men. Not holding their feet to the
fire. Not keeping them under the letter
of the law. It's a humane attitude looking
at the element of human weakness in that person. Just like you. You, even the Lord did that.
Remember when the Lord came to his disciples and he said, truly,
the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He knoweth our
frame. He remembereth that we are dust. This is the attitude he's talking
about. Now, if I see you straying from
the truth, if you see me straying from the truth, I pray that God
will give us this kind of attitude in seeking to restore the wandering
sheep. Now look what he says back in
our text in Matthew chapter 5, or I mean James chapter 5. Verse 20, let him know. Let the
one who has turned this other person and let the one who has
been turned. Let him know that he which converteth
turns the sinner from the air of his way, shall save a soul
from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. Now, he that turns the sinner from
the air of his way. You know why straight in the
first place? Because he's a sinner. You and I use this term, sinner. It's something that I know something
about. I'm a saint, and I'm a sinner. Both? Yep. Yep. The new man is a saint, Saint
Todd. The old man is nothing but a
sinner. And I understand the sinner going
in the wrong direction and being turned from the error of His
ways. And I think about the Apostle
Paul. He said in 1 Timothy 1.15, this is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I, what's the next word? Am. Not used to be. Not formerly
was. But now I'm different. of whom
I am the chief. And that's how Paul felt about
himself. And that better be the way I feel about myself. And
that ought to be the way you feel about yourself. Amen. That's
the truth. Now let that one know who's converted
the sinner. I own the title. from the error
of his way, the going astray like a lost sheep. I've gone
astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant, I don't forget
thy word. Let him know that the one who's
converted the sinner from the error of his way has saved the
soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. Now, does that imply that a true
sheep can end up dying in our sins
and not having our sins covered? Well, you know from the other
scriptures it doesn't mean that. The Lord said, I give unto my
sheep eternal life, not temporary, eternal, never had a beginning,
never have an ending, eternal life. And they shall never perish. That's okay with me, isn't it
you? They shall never perish. So you
know from the light of scripture that it's not saying a true sheep
can suffer the soul death and all of its sins be exposed. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
10. Verse 26. Here's what this means. For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for
sins. Now I can remember when I used
to avoid Hebrews chapter 10 because of that verse. I wouldn't even
want to read it. I couldn't deal with the implications of it.
Does that mean that if I choose to sin, it's not that I just
get caught up in it, but I willfully know what I'm doing ahead of
time, and I sin, there's no sacrifice for that sin? Is that what that
means? Well, if that is what it means, meaning you won't be
saved. Is that right? Every time we sin, we sin with
the will. Notice what it says. If we sin willfully after that,
we've received the knowledge of the truth. Now, what this
is talking about is somebody hearing the gospel. Believing
the gospel and going back to works. If we sin willfully, After that
we've received the knowledge of the truth. Christ is the truth.
You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
Stand fast in the liberty where with Christ it's made us free.
You hear the gospel and you go back to works. If you don't return,
you have committed the unpardonable sin. There is no remedy for that. It's only in returning And if
you return, now if you don't return, if you don't return,
let's go on reading here. But a certain fearful looking
for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries,
he that despised Moses' law, died without mercy under two
or three witnesses, of how much sore punishment shall he be thought
worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted
him the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified,
an unholy or a common thing. and have done despite under the
spirit of grace. That man's in trouble, isn't
he? We know him that saith vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith
the Lord. Now, the one who doesn't return,
who goes back to works, there's no salvation for that person.
There's no hope for that person. But the one who has been converted
and turned back, he's not going to see the end of the man we
just read about. His soul is saved from death
and the great multitude of his sins are covered, hidden, put
away by the blood of Christ. It's only the person who perseveres
in looking to Christ only that shall be saved. That's it. Now that person who It's converted. It's turned. And I'll tell you what, how many
times have you needed to be turned? How many times have you needed
to be turned? Well, so-and-so needs to be turned. Yeah, so-and-so
does need to be turned, but I know somebody needs to be turned more.
Me. Me. It's only that person who
endures to the end, believing the gospel only, that shall be
saved. We are made partakers of Christ,
if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.
Now what I see from this, I am so liable to stray. I love what David said. I'm going
to close with these words. I've gone astray like a lost
sheep. Seek thy servant. For I do not forget thy word. Let's pray. Lord, we confess that we've all
like sheep gone astray and turned everyone to our own way, that
we have such a an appetite for sin and the enticements of this
world that it would cause us to leave you. We know when we
sing that song, it means so much prone to wonder. Lord, I feel
it prone to leave the God I love. Lord, deliver us from that Lord.
Our great shepherd. Our great shepherd. Seek us. When we go astray and Lord, give
us such a love for one another. That we want to. Turn. any of our brethren that err
from the truth. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray.